The menu system found here is the final version, and will be used on future releases.
These films are meant to be a setup to the future releases, although if you want something a little faster paced check out the pulp video in the special features.

Thanks,
- Celx

Reviews

Rated 2.5 / 5 stars2012-05-01 14:47:57

Well, I figiured if I've the other two stories on here I might as well review this one. The art's about the same as I expect from you, and I do like it, buuuuut I've never had a head for art really, I'm more of a story gal myself.

That said, there's not enough of the story for me to make a proper judgement, though I am curious about it, and it is a preview, so it's not like I would get much from it at this stage anyway. Honestly, this kind of 'crime syndicate' or whatever genre isn't exactly the type of thing I'm interested in, but I'm looking forward to it since you've proven you can pull a good amount of satisfying plot twists. So, I'd watch the finished product because I trust your story telling skill.

As for audio, I like the music, though it's good backround noise like the last two, so, it really doesn't stand out, but it does it's job. ...as for the voices...eh...heh....heheh..ew. Eeeeeeeew, ewewew, i'm sorry, I just...urk....sound sensitive...teh whispering...it's...I've heard worse voice acting...but...gah. Needless to say I'm really, REALLY not a fan of the voices. >.< The whispering to be honest just makes everything worse. It's like you were right up against the mike and spat into it wth every other word, and guh...

Well, really, like I'd said I'd watch the finished product...and I figiured you deserved an honest review...though...yeah, voices. Heh. But the rest looks good! Can't wait for the compleated thing!

You know Shark is something I'm both proud of and disappointed in, on one hand it was my first attempt at animating serving as a reminder of how my skills have improved since then; and I get nostalgic looking at it.

On the other hand the voice acting was an abysmal failure, and the story wasn't quite as refind as it should have been.

For these reasons I decided to drop the project until I honed my skills enough to live up to my original aspirations for the story.

"A Twisted Transparency" is my final project and is vastly different from what you've seen with "Shark: Black"; trust me even if your not into "crime noir", A.T.T. will have a deeper subtext at it's core.

Rated 3.5 / 5 stars2010-05-24 10:28:43

A pretty good movie. Again, I like your style. It's very dark but it fits to the stories you create.

Just like Coop I think you should shorten the "running scene" a bit. It was too long winded and in the first half of the scene the background was very straining for the eyes.

Also, you really should put in subtitles. I only could make out half of the dialogue because it was whispered the whole time.
Another problem with the whispering is, that you can't really whisper the "hard sounding" consonants like "p" or "t", As a result those consonants where sometimes spoken too loud, which doesn't sound too good in my ears.

Rated 4 / 5 stars2010-05-18 01:59:01

Woohoo Shark Black

-I like the little pointer design you created for this. It really fits the whole shark theme you have going. Animating it was a nice little add-in too. I liked the whole layout for this a lot better than the CoolJaw Layout. The clickable items are much larger and contrasting to make them pop out better. It looks really nice too.

-The animating of this is ok. It's a bit choppy overall but you're probably using a low framerate. If at all possible try to have a high FPS to make the animating smoother. The dialouge was difficult to hear since most of it was whispering. Put in subtitles if your going to continue using this dialouge type. The lip synching was only an open and closed mouth and could benefit from having actual mouth motion too.

-You put a lot of extras into this. The backstory in the notes helped fill some gaps in the story that I couldn't figure out from watching the video. Concept art was also a nice addition and it helped me figure out some of the reasons for parts being drawn certain ways. The little Ripples comic gives you a little teaser but it didn't really do a good job at making me want to see more.

Rated 3.5 / 5 stars2010-05-15 16:23:36

Well designed and performed

I do think that this piece needs a little more in the way of better voice acting and perhaps some subtitles, since I didn't quite catch all of the lines, because of the voice you chose and the limited lip synching. The mouth doesn't change shape dependent upon the word that you're trying to get them to say, it just oscillates between open and closed.

When it comes to the background detail of this piece you've certainly gone overboard here and that does mean bonus points for you. It also sets the bar pretty high for you to recreate when you make more of these pieces.

I don't know if it was a bridge that the guy ran across, but the strobe effect of the piece in that sequence, before the police station and the other buildings that he ran past just seemed to make me a little nauseous. That could do with shortening and perhaps changing for something a little easier on the eyes.

Finally, when the sword is shown in the room, should it have a pointed edge so close to the hilt? I always thought that katana tended to have the blade move straight to the hilt and not deviate for artistic purposes that might blunt or weaken the blade. As the guy says in the following scene, "I note small details"

Rated 3.5 / 5 stars2010-04-10 00:45:56

It's me Again.

My dear Friend, and this time I'll call you like this.... I have to tell you that your flash animation style it's quite interesting, I supose that you wanted to play alitle with Frank miller's Style, black an withe and maybe a few litle red, it seems that the stoyr has a trama that maybe could be a litle similtar to many stories on the world, you need to put more passion on this one, CJ, has an unique style that makes the reader stay on the reading, but, now, I'll give you a 7, just for a few reason, first the plot, and second the sound, I think you wanted to make an effect on the voices to make an echo, you to use another programs to make your voice different, to kill noise, and make the effects you need, for other things everything it's really good. I'll be waiting the other chapter. I'll be watching you.